For decades, toy rockets have been popular playthings for children of all ages. Such rockets have been made available in all shapes and sizes and many models have been provided with their own propellant. Most toy rockets that have been the playthings of children are designed to be launched by one of various means into the air for flight.
One method of launching rockets has been with the use of solid fuel rocket engines. These solid fuel rocket engines provide ample thrust to launch a rocket several hundred feet into the air. However, there are many dangers involved with the use of solid fuel engines. For instance, once the engine is ignited its burn can not be stopped until the entire fuel supply of the engine has been utilized. Another danger associated with these rockets is that they may be launched in any orientation. As such, if a rocket tips over prior to launch or is even purposely directed in a direction other than vertical, the rocket nevertheless will be launched. Such a misdirected launching poses an extremely dangerous situation to both property and spectators.
Rockets have also been designed to include a pressure tank in which pressurized air or water is stored and expelled through a nozzle in order to propel the rocket, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,153. However, once these rockets are fully pressurized they cannot be removed from the launcher without firing the rocket. Many of these types of rockets do not include safety mechanisms which prevent the rocket from firing should it be oriented in a position other than vertical. As such, many of these rockets may be accidentally or purposely fired at people or property.
Another popular method of launching toy rockets has been with a launcher which utilizes compressed air behind the rocket to propel it forward, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,216. While these rockets do not utilize dangerous solid fuel burning engines, they still have the problem of being capable of being launched in a non-vertical orientation.
Recently, rockets have been designed to incorporate a safety mechanism to ensure the rocket is oriented vertically during launch, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,153. Here, a pneumatic latch prevents the release of the rocket from the launcher if the rocket is off-set from a generally vertical orientation. While this aids is preventing the launching of a mis-oriented rocket such does not render the rocket harmless. It should be noted the rocket described herein remains pressurized and ready to launch. As such, if a child manually disengages the rocket, the compressed air will still be discharged and the rocket will be launched.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a rocket which may deploy only in a vertical orientation and rendered harmless should an attempt be made to fire the rocket in a mis-oriented position. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.